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WASHINGTON - Senator Jim Bunning, the Kentucky Republican who is one of the more cantankerous and unconventional lawmakers of his era, announced yesterday that he would not seek reelection in 2010.

Bunning’s decision to not seek a third term is not a total surprise, since he has been unable to raise much campaign money.

Indeed, in announcing his decision he said that other Republicans had done “everything in their power to dry up my fund-raising.’’

The senator has long had strained relationships with party colleagues, including his fellow Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, who had declined to endorse him.

“When I cast a vote,’’ Bunning said in a statement, “I think about how it will affect my grandchildren and the next generation of Kentuckians, not my next election or invitation to a D.C. cocktail party.’’

Bunning, 77, is a Hall of Fame baseball player. He was elected to the Senate in 1998 after six terms in the House.